The Dog

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One of the Egyptian deities--Anubis--is described as having the form and
body of a man, but with a dog's head. These were types of sagacity and
fidelity.

["Who knows not that infatuate Egypt finds
Gods to adore in brutes of basest kinds?
This at the crocodile's resentment quakes,
While that adores the ibis, gorged with snakes!
And where the radiant beam of morning rings
On shattered Memnon's still harmonious strings;
And Thebes to ruin all her gates resigns,
Of huge baboon the golden image shines!
To _mongrel curs_ infatuate cities bow,
And cats and fishes share the frequent vow!"

Juvenal, 'Sat. xv'.--Badham's Trans.--L.]

In Ethiopia, not only was great veneration paid to the dog, but the
inhabitants used to elect a dog as their king. He was kept in great
state, and surrounded by a numerous train of officers and guards. When
he fawned upon them, he was supposed to be pleased with their
proceedings: when he growled, he disapproved of the manner in which
their government was conducted. These indications of his will were
implicitly obeyed, or rather, perhaps, dictated.

[Among the many strange and wonderful things mentioned by Pliny as being
discovered in Africa, is a people called Ptoembati or Ptremphanae, whose
principal city is Aruspi, where they elect a dog for their king and obey
him most religiously, being governed entirely by the different motions
of his body, which they interpret according to certain signs. (See
Pliny, lib. vi, c. xxx.)--L.]

Even a thousand years after this period the dog was highly esteemed in
Egypt for its sagacity and other excellent qualities; for, when
Pythagoras, after his return from Egypt, founded a new sect in Greece,
and at Croton, in southern Italy, he taught, with the Egyptian
philosophers, that, at the death of the body, the soul entered into that
of different animals. He used, after the decease of any of his favourite
disciples, to cause a dog to be held to the mouth of the dying man, in
order to receive his departing spirit; saying, that there was no animal
that could perpetuate his virtues better than that quadruped.

It was in order to present the Israelites from errors and follies like
these, and to prevent the possibility of this species of idolatry being
established, that the dog was afterward regarded with utter abhorrence
among the Jews. [5] This feeling prevailed during the continuance of the
Israelites in Palestine. Even in the New Testament the Apostle warns
those to whom he wrote to "beware of dogs and evil-workers;" [6] and it
is said in The Revelations that "without are dogs and sorcerers," &c.
[7] Dogs were, however, employed even by the Jews. Job says, "Now they
that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have
disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." [8] Dogs were employed
either to guide the sheep or to protect them from wild beasts; and some
prowled about the streets at night, contending with each other for the
offal that was thrown away.

To a certain degree this dislike of the dog continues to the present
day; for, with few exceptions, the dog is seldom the chosen companion of
the Jew, or even the inmate of his house. Nor was it originally confined
to Palestine. Wherever a knowledge of the Jewish religion spread, or any
of its traditions were believed, there arose an abhorrence of the dog.
The Mohammedans have always regarded him as an unclean animal, that
should never be cherished in any human habitation--belonging to no
particular owner, but protecting the street [9] and the district rather
than the house of a master.

The Hindoos regard him likewise as unclean, and submit to various
purifications if they accidentally come in contact with him, believing
that every dog was animated by a wicked and malignant spirit, condemned
to do penance in that form for crimes committed in a previous state of
existence. If by chance a dog passed between a teacher and his pupil
during the period of instruction, it was supposed that the best lesson
would be completely poisoned, and it was deemed prudent to suspend the
tuition for at least a day and a night. Even in Egypt, dogs are now as
much avoided as they were venerated. In every Mohammedan and Hindoo
country, the most scurrilous epithet bestowed on a European or a
Christian is--"a dog!" [10]

This accounts for the singular fact that in the whole of the Jewish
history there is not a single allusion to hunting with dogs. Mention is
made of nets and snares, but the dog seems to have been never used in
the pursuit of game.

In the early periods of the history of other countries this seems to
have been the case even where the dog was esteemed and valued, and had
become the companion, the friend, and the defender of man and his home.
So late as the second century of the Christian era, the fair hunting of
the present day needed the eloquent defence of Arrian, who says that
"there is as much difference between a fair trial of speed in a good
run, and ensnaring a poor animal without an effort, as between the
secret piratical assaults of robbers at sea, and the victorious naval
engagements of the Athenians at Artemisium and at Salamis." [11] The
first hint of the employment of the dog in the pursuit of other animals
is given by Oppian in his Cynegeticus, who attributes it to Pollux,
about 200 years after the promulgation of the Levitical law.

Of the precise species of dog that prevailed or was cultivated in Greece
at this early period, little can with certainty be affirmed. One
beautiful piece of sculpture has been preserved, and is now in the
possession of Lord Feversham at Duncombe Hall. It is said to represent
the favourite dog of Alcibiades, and to have been the production of
Myson, one of the most skillful artists of ancient times. It differs but
little from the Newfoundland dog of the present day. He is represented
as sitting on his haunches, and earnestly looking at his master. Any one
would vouch for the sagacity and fidelity of that animal.

The British Museum contains a group of greyhound puppies of more recent
date, from the ruins of the villa of Antoninus, near Rome. One is
fondling the other; and the attitude of both, and the characteristic
puppy-clumsiness of their limbs, which indicate, nevertheless, the
beautiful proportions that will soon be developed, are an admirable
specimen of ancient art.

[Illustration of ancient sculpture of greyhounds]

The Greeks, in the earlier periods of their history, depended too much
on their nets; and it was not until later times that they pursued their
prey with dogs, and then not with dogs that ran by sight, or succeeded
by their swiftness of foot, but by beagles very little superior to those
of modern days [12]. Of the stronger and more ferocious dogs there is,
however, occasional mention. The bull-dog of modern date does not excel
the one (possibly of nearly the same race) that was presented to
Alexander the Great, and that boldly seized a ferocious lion, or another
that would not quit his hold, although one leg and then another was cut
off.

It would be difficult and foreign to the object of this work fully to
trace the early history of the dog. Both in Greece and in Rome he was
highly estimated. Alexander built a city in honour of a dog; and the
Emperor Hadrian decreed the most solemn rites of sepulture to another on
account of his sagacity and fidelity.

The translator of Arrian imagines that the use of the 'pugnaces'
(fighting) and the 'sagaces' (intelligent)--the more ferocious dogs, and
those who artfully circumvented and caught their prey--was known in the
earlier periods of Greek and Roman history, but that the 'celeres', the
dogs of speed, the greyhounds of every kind, were peculiar to the
British islands, or to the western and northern continents of Europe,
the interior and the produce of which were in those days unknown to the
Greeks and Romans. By most authors who have inquired into the origin of
these varieties of the dog, the 'sagaces' have been generally assigned
to Greece--the 'pugnaces' to Asia--and the 'celeres' to the Celtic
nations.

[The vertragi, 'canes celeres', or dogs that hunted by sight alone, were
not known to the ancients previous to the time of the younger Xenophon,
who then describes them as novelties just introduced into Greece:

"But the swift-footed Celtic hounds are called in the Celtic tongue
[Greek: oueztragoi]; not deriving their name from any particular
nation, like the Cretan, Carian, or Spartan dogs, but, as some of the
Cretans are named [Greek: diaponoi] from working hard, [Greek: itamai]
from their keenness, and mongrels from their being compounded of both,
so these Celts are named from their swiftness. In figure, the most
high-bred are a prodigy of beauty; their eyes, their hair, their
colour, and bodily shape throughout. Such brilliancy of gloss is there
about the spottiness of the parti-coloured, and in those of uniform
colour, such glistening over the sameness of tint, as to afford a most
delightful spectacle to an amateur of coursing."

It is probable these dogs were carried, about this time, into the
southern parts of Europe by the various tribes of Celts who over-ran the
continent, and also occupied Ireland, Britain, and the other western
islands, and ultimately took possession of Gaul.--L.]

Of the aboriginal country of the latter there can be little doubt; but
the accounts that are given of the English mastiff at the invasion of
Britain by the Romans, and the early history of the English hound, which
was once peculiar to this country, and at the present day degenerates in
every other, would go far to prove that these breeds also are indigenous
to our island.

Oppian thus describes the hunting dog as he finds him in
Britain:

"There is, besides, an excellent kind of scenting dogs, though small,
yet worthy of estimation. They are fed by the fierce nation of painted
Britons, who call them 'agasoei'. In size they resemble worthless
greedy house-dogs that gape under tables. They are crooked, lean,
coarse-haired, and heavy-eyed, but armed with powerful claws and
deadly teeth. The 'agasoeus' is of good nose and most excellent in
following scent [13]."

Among the savage dogs of ancient times were the Hyrcanian, said, on
account of their extreme ferocity, to have been crossed with the tiger
[14],--the Locrian, chiefly employed in hunting the boar,--the
Pannonian, used in war as well as in the chase, and by whom the first
charge on the enemy was always made,--and the Molossian, of Epirus,
likewise trained to war as well as to the honours of the amphitheatre
and the dangers of the chase. This last breed had one redeeming
quality--an inviolable attachment to their owners. This attachment was
reciprocal; for it is said that the Molossi used to weep over their
faithful quadruped companions slain in war.

[Of all the dogs of the ancients, those bred on the continent of Epirus
were the most esteemed, and more particularly those from a southern
district called Molossia, from which they received their name.

These animals are described as being of enormous size, great courage and
powerful make, and were considered worthy not only to encounter the
wolf, bear, and boar, but often overcame the panther, tiger, and lion,
both in the chase and amphitheatre. They also, being trained to war,
proved themselves most useful auxiliaries to this martial people.

The learned translator of Arrian states that

"the fabled origin of this breed is consistent with its high repute;
for, on the authority of Nicander, we are told by Julius Pollux, that
the Epirote was descended from the brazen dog which Vulcan wrought for
Jupiter, and animated with all the functions of canine life."

These were not the only dogs fashioned by the skilful hands of the
Olympic artist, as we find Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians, possessing
golden dogs also wrought at the celestial forge.

Pliny states that a dog of enormous magnitude was sent as a present by
the king of Albania to Alexander the Great when on his march to India;
and "that this monarch being delighted at the sight of so huge and fair
a dog, let loose unto him first bears, then wild boars, and lastly
fallow deer, all of which animals he took no notice of, but remained
perfectly unconcerned. This great warrior being a man of high spirit and
wonderful courage, was greatly displeased at the apparent cowardice and
want of energy in so powerful an animal, and ordered him to be slain.
This news was speedily carried to the king of Albania, who thereupon
sent unto him a second dog, stating that he should not make trial of his
courage with such insignificant animals, but rather with a lion or
elephant, and if he destroyed this one also, he need not expect to
obtain any other of this breed, as these two were all he possessed.

Tanta: suis petiere ultra fera semina sylvis,
Dat Venus accessus, et blando foedere jungit.
Tunc et mansuetis tuto ferus erat adulter
In stabulis, ultroque gravis succedere tigrim
Ausa canis, majore tulit de sanguine foetum.

'Gratii Falisci Cyneget.,' liv. 1. v. 160.

Alexander being much surprised, made immediate preparations for a trial,
and soon saw the lion prostrate, with his back broken, and his body torn
in pieces by the noble dog. Then he ordered an elephant to be produced;
and in no fight did he take more pleasure than in this. For the dog,
with his long, rough, shaggy hair, that covered his whole body, rushed
with open mouth, barking terribly, and thundering, as it were, upon the
elephant. Soon after he leaps and flies upon him, advancing and
retreating, now on one side, now on the other, maintaining an ingenious
combat; at one time assailing him with all vigour, at another shunning
him. So actively did he continue this artificial warfare, causing the
huge beast to turn around so frequently on every side to avoid his
attacks, that he ultimately came down with a crash that "made the earth
tremble with his fall". Book viii. chap. 40.

The Molossian dogs were at a later period much esteemed by the Romans as
watch dogs, not only of their dwellings, but also to guard their flocks
against the incursions of wild animals. Horace, in the following lines,
passes a just tribute to the worth of this animal, when referring to his
watchfulness, and the ardour with which he pursues those wild animals,
even 'per altas nives,' that threaten the flocks entrusted to his care.

"Quid immerentes, hospites vexas canis,
Ignarus adversum lupos?
Quin huc inanes, si potes, vertis minas,
Et me remorsurum petis?
Nam, qualis aut Molossus, aut fulvus Lacon,
Amica vis pastoribus,
Agam per altas aure sublata nives,
Quaecunpue praecedet fera."

'Epode' vi.--L.]

AElian relates that one of them, and his owner, so much distinguished
themselves at the battle of Marathon, that the effigy of the dog was
placed on the same tablet with that of his master.

Soon after Britain was discovered, the 'pugnaces' of Epirus were pitted
against those of our island, and, according to the testimony of Gratius,
completely beaten. A variety of this class, but as large and as
ferocious, was employed to guard the sheep and cattle, or to watch at
the door of the house, or to follow the owner on any excursion of
business or of pleasure. Gratius says of these dogs, that they have no
pretensions to the deceitful commendation of form; but, at the time of
need, when courage is required of them, most excellent mastiffs are not
to be preferred to them.

The account of the British 'pugnaces' of former times, and also of the
'sagaces' and 'celeres', will be best given when treating of their
present state and comparative value. In describing the different breeds
of dogs, some anecdotes will be related of their sagacity and fidelity;
a few previous remarks, however, may be admissible.

A young man lost his life by falling from one of the precipices of the
Helvellyn mountains. Three months afterwards his remains were discovered
at the bottom of a ravine, and his faithful dog, almost a skeleton,
still guarding them. Sir Walter Scott beautifully describes the scene:

Dark-green was the spot, 'mid the brown mountain heather,
Where the pilgrim of nature lay stretched in decay;
Like the corpse of an outcast, abandoned to weather,
Till the mountain winds wasted the tenantless clay;
Nor yet quite deserted, though lonely extended,
For, faithful in death, his mute favourite attended,
The much loved remains of her master defended,
And chased the hill-fox and the raven away.
How long didst thou think that his silence was slumber?
When the wind waved his garments, how oft didst thou start?
How many long days and long weeks didst thou number
Ere he faded before thee, the friend of thy heart?

Burchell, in his Travels in Africa, places the connexion between man and
the dog, and the good qualities of this animal, in an interesting point
of view. A pack of dogs of various descriptions formed a necessary part
of his caravan, occasionally to provide him with food, but oftener to
defend him from wild beasts or robbers.

"While almost every other quadruped fears man as his most formidable
enemy," says this interesting traveller, "there is one who regards him
as his companion, and follows him as his friend. We must not mistake
the nature of the case. It is not because we train him to our use, and
have made choice of him in preference to other animals, but because
this particular species of animal feels a natural desire to be useful
to man, and, from spontaneous impulse, attaches himself to him. Were
it not so, we should see in various countries an equal familiarity
with other quadrupeds, according to their habits, and the taste or
caprices of different nations; but, everywhere, it is the dog only
that takes delight in associating with us, and in sharing our abode.
It is he who knows us personally, watches over us, and warns us of
danger. It is impossible for the naturalist not to feel a conviction
that this friendship between creatures so different from each other
must be the result of the laws of nature; nor can the humane and
feeling mind avoid the belief that kindness to those animals, from
which he derives continued and essential assistance, is part of the
moral duty of man.

"Often in the silence of the night, when all my people have been fast
asleep around the fire, have I stood to contemplate these faithful
animals watching by their side, and have learned to esteem them for
their social inclination towards mankind. When, wandering over
pathless deserts, oppressed with vexation and distress at the conduct
of my own men, I have turned to these as my only friends, and felt how
much inferior to them was man when actuated only by selfish views."

Of the stanchness and incorruptible fidelity of the dog, and his
disregard of personal inconvenience and want, when employed in our
service, it is impossible to entertain a doubt. We have sometimes
thought that the attachment of the dog to its master was increased, or,
at least, the exhibition of it, by the penury of the owner. At all
events one fact is plain enough, that, while poverty drives away from us
many a companion of our happier hours, it was never known to diminish
the love of our quadruped friend.

The early history of the dog has been described, and the abomination in
which he was held by the Israelites. At no great distance of time,
however, we find him, almost in the neighbourhood of Palestine, in one
of the islands of the Ionian Sea, the companion and the friend of
princes, and deserving their regard. The reader will forgive a somewhat
abbreviated account of the last meeting of Ulysses and his dog.

Twenty years had passed since Argus, the favourite dog of Ulysses, had
been parted from his master. The monarch at length wended his way
homewards, and, disguised as a beggar, for his life would have been
sacrificed had he been known, stood at the entrance of his palace-door.
There he met with an old dependant, who had formerly served him with
fidelity and who was yet faithful to his memory; but age and hardship
and care, and the disguise which he now wore, had so altered the
wanderer that the good Eumaeus had not the most distant suspicion with
whom he was conversing; but:

Near to the gates, conferring as they drew,
Argus the dog his ancient master knew,
And, not unconscious of the voice and tread
Lifts to the sound his ears, and rears his head.
He knew the lord, he knew, and strove to meet;
In vain he strove to crawl and kiss his feet;
Yet, all he could, his tail, his ears, his eyes
Salute his master, and confess his joys. [15]

[Lord Byron, who had much experience and acquaintance with the canine
family, was rather sceptical as regards the memory of this animal,
having been, on one occasion, entirely forgotten by a favourite dog from
whom he was separated some considerable time, and in fact was most
savagely assailed by him, when on his return he attempted to caress him
as he was wont to do in former times.

This unkind reception at Newstead Abbey, on the part of his pampered
pet, may have given rise to the poet's feelings as embodied in the
following misanthropic lines:--

"And now I'm in the world alone,
Upon the wide, wide sea:
But why should I for others groan,
When none will sigh for me?
Perchance my dog will whine in vain,
Till fed by stranger hands;
But long ere I come back again,
He'd tear me where he stands."--L.]

In Daniel's Rural Sports, the account of a nobleman and his dog is
given. The nobleman had been absent two years on foreign service. On his
return this faithful creature was the first to recognise him, as he came
through the court-yard, and he flew to welcome his old master and
friend. He sprung upon him; his agitation and his joy knew not any
bounds; and at length, in the fulness of his transport, he fell at his
master's feet and expired.

[An interesting circumstance, strongly exhibiting canine fidelity and
attachment in a large mastiff, came under the Editor's own eye during
his childhood, and which, from its striking character, deserves to be
recorded on the page of history as another testimony to the high moral
worth of these useful animals.

A gentleman of Baltimore, with his family, lived during a portion of the
year a short distance in the country, and was in the habit of returning
to the city late in the fall to pass the winter. On his estate there was
a fine young mastiff, who though extremely cross to strangers, exhibited
at all times a great degree of tenderness and affection for the younger
branches of the family;--more particularly for the younger son, his most
constant companion, and who would often steal secretly away to share his
daily meal with this affectionate participator in his childish sports:
or, when fatigued with romping together, would retire to the well-kept
kennel, and recruit his limbs in a refreshing sleep, while reclining
upon the body of the faithful dog. If the little truant should now be
missed by those having him in charge, the most natural question to ask
was, "Where is Rolla?" knowing full well that wherever this honest brute
was, there might his young master be found also. On such occasions,
however, this trusty guardian would refuse all solicitations to abandon
his post, and express great dissatisfaction at any attempt to arouse or
carry off his young charge, whom he continued to watch over till he
awoke, refreshed from his slumber and eager again to resume their
frolics.

The period of returning to the city at last arrived, and the dog
exhibited marked signs of uneasiness, while the bustling preparations
for this end were going on, as if conscious of the separation that was
about to take place between his young master and himself, as also the
other children, who had been his constant companions for so many joyful
months.

Everything being completed, the childish group bid an affectionate adieu
to the downcast Rolla, whom they left standing on the hill-top, watching
the carriage as it disappeared in the wood. A few days after their
departure, and when this poor animal was forgotten in the new scenes
around them, a communication was received from the overseer of the farm,
in which he stated that the favourite dog appeared much grieved since
the family had left for the city, and was fearful that he might die if
he continued in the same condition. Little attention, however, was given
to these remarks, all imagining that the dog's melancholy was only the
result of temporary distress, owing to his secluded life, so different
from that which he had led when surrounded by the various members of a
large family. Little did any one suppose that this poor neglected brute
was suffering the acutest pangs of mental distress, even sufficient to
produce death.

Two weeks had now elapsed since the separation from Rolla, when another
message came from the overseer, stating that the dog would surely die
with grief, if not removed to the city, as he had refused all sustenance
for several days, and did nothing but wander about from place to place,
formerly frequented by the children, howling and moaning in the most
piteous manner.